Tackling epidemic and rehabilitation issues
While the flood waters in Jammu & Kashmir gradually recede and the State inches back to normalcy, another crisis lurks around the corner — an epidemic of water-borne diseases. Much of the affected region is still partially submerged; homes are still water-logged and many of the roadways even in Srinagar city still look like Venetian canals, except that they run stagnant waters, often carrying the carcasses of dead animals. Health workers are struggling to prevent an outbreak of cholera and other such diseases, but there is only that much they can do on their own. To make matters worse, even hospitals are not yet fully operational as they too are submerged and a lot of the equipment has sustained water damage. A massive effort from the authorities is the need of the hour. The Union Government has been doing its bit — it has sent gigantic water purification machines that can filter four lakh litres of water a day, as well as thousands of water purifying tablets and some large suction pumps. But the State Government really needs to step up its game. The latter has been largely missing in action since the Jhelum broke through its banks and flooded the valley, which was the worst-hit. Consequently, the Armed Forces and individual groups and volunteers have had to carry out a bulk of the rescue effort while the State authorities watched helplessly.
More than 2,00,000 people have been rescued, but this only means that they have been saved from drowning in the flood waters and moved to a relatively safe location. They are yet to be rehabilitated. Food, water and medicines are scarce at many of the rescue shelters which are dependent on relief material being flown in from other parts of the country. To understand the gravity of the situation, one only has to look at the figures: Even though more than 5,08,000 litres of water, over 1,054 tonnes of food packets, 8,200 blankets and 1,500 tents have been distributed, they are proving woefully inadequate. Worse, distribution of relief material at the ground level has proved to be challenging. From across the State, there have been reports that victims who are stronger or more powerful have been cornering a lion's share of the aid. This is yet another area wherein the State Government needs to make its presence felt. Unfortunately, its calls to employees to resume duties have largely gone unanswered, possibly because many of the Government workers themselves are trapped. Nonetheless, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his administration have to get their act together. In the medium to long term, the State will also have to grapple with hundreds of thousands of people whose homes and livelihoods have been washed away. That even before the floods, the economic situation in Jammu & Kashmir was abysmal — unemployment was high, business activity was low and the State treasury virtually empty — will only make recovery that much harder.